Monday, November 14, 2011

This recipe is not for your Thanksgiving leftovers. Those should simply be reheated and eaten the next day, as either a hot sandwich, or just as they were the day before. This delicious Turkey Noodle Casserole is for the leftover leftovers.

I don’t know about you, but after a few days of eating Thanksgiving leftovers, no matter how tasty they originally were, I want something that makes me forget there’s even turkey in it. Since ingredients like garam masala, spicy cheese, and peppers aren’t typically used in the meal, they work wonderfully here to disguise the last of the holiday bird.

By the way, you’ll also want to assess the rest of your leftovers before constructing this casserole. The recipe is perfect for using up the last remnants of those “why did we make so much?” vegetable side dishes; things like peas and carrots, green beans and onions, or even butternut squash will work very nicely.

I know we have a few weeks to go, but I’m posting this nice and early so you can be sure to have the necessary items in your pantry already. Thanks to all those Black Friday lunatics, the less shopping you have to do after Thanksgiving, the better. I hope you give this a try, and like it so much that you add it to your regular recipe rotation. Enjoy!

38 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Just a question Chef.Why do some recipes with pasta say rinse with water and other say do not rinse? I know some recipes with red sauce say it helps hold the sauce to the pasta but is it healthier to rinse or not to rinse, or is it just the way some chef's(TV chef's)do their pasta.ThanksI can wait for leftover turkey, I'm using a rotisserie chicken from Wegman's tonight!!!!!

Canadian Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago, and I've been wondering what to do with the frozen leftovers, so this recipe came at just the right time :). It sounds amazing, except the part about using cream of mushroom soup! Awful stuff IMHO. I think I'll just increase the amount of béchamel and add some fresh mushrooms. Thanks for the inspiration! I've tried several of your recipes lately and they've all been fantastic!

Unless you are doing a cold pasta salad, NEVER rinse pasta, ever. The starch layer helps the sauce stick to the pasta when you mix it. Some bad cook serve pasta with the sauce simply spooned over which is bad way to serve, and they rinse so the noodles don't stick. But you need to let a pasta absorb the sauce, so that's a bad method.

Sounds tasty Chef John but sadly my thanksgiving turkey leftovers are long gone. However there IS a chicken waiting to get out of the freezer. For those that can't find garam masala it is fairly easy to blend your own unless your store has only the tiniest selection of spices. Way better than curry powder.

Looks like the MACOMS are out in force today (Mothers Against Cans of Mushroom Soup). Come on ladies, leave Chef John alone...he's a fungi...when God made him he broke the mold. Be a good spore, put on your thinking cap, and let him work his magic (you know you think he's cute as a button). The last thing you want is to live the rest of your life in the dark, being fed manure all day. The morel of my story: it's not liking adopting an open mind is gonna gill ya'.

Why are there turkey left overs period? Why not cook just a little each of ham and turkey and better yet pieces of turkey instead of whole ones instead? Let's be honest. Not all left overs are used up no matter how ou change them up because you just get fed up with so much turkey! Ahhh!!!

I love anything with noodles...turkey, however, is not my favorite (despite the fact that I live in Turkey). I think I'll try this with tuna or chicken...and I'll have to make my own mushroom soup (as the canned variety is sadly lacking here). Looked yummy though. Thanks for the inspiration.

This was delicious. I made it tonight with leftover turkey, and it was just fantastic (substituted butter breadcrumbs for potato chips).

Also made the french onion green bean casserole for thanksgiving, and that was delicious too (the crispy topping and caramelized onions were a big hit), but this turkey noodle casserole in my opinion was even better. Thanks so much Chef John!

I recently came across your site and am happy to say "you are a good cooker"! I like how you explain everything in your videos down to the things you need or don't need to do. Keep these videos coming and I am getting a kick out of your great humour when you're explaining yourself because you just crack me up!

So, like I was going to comment on this turkey casserole and was wondering if I could use something like cream of celery instead of cream of mushroom and Panko breadcrumbs instead of potato chips? Thanks and if you're reading this after December 25th, hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas! I guess you must be all "fooded out"! LOL!

So you want me to work all day making you free video recipes to watch, and then you also want me to stay up at night typing up the recipe so it's easier for you? Do you want me to come over and wash your dishes too?! Can you see how this seems a little selfish and unappreciative?

Thank you again chef for a great recipe. I am making this for the 3th time right now. I can't wait to have that first little peace from the crust.. lol.My boys love it, and so do I.So thank you for making this video's

Chef John,I really love the videos of all the amazing delicious food! I have made many myself and they always turn out great. I will make the turkey casserole tonight. Thanks so much for sharing your rad cooking skills and delicious recipes! -Dwight in Van Nuys

For some reason I stumbled upon this recipe today, Nov. 7 2016. I just happened to have some thanksgiving turkey leftovers in the freezer,(Canadian!) so it's now in the oven. I'm sure it's going to be a hit....... the sauce tastes fantastic, so how can it not be? Thanks! I'll be back visiting often I'm sure.